Written question asked by Tim Loughton (Conservative) on Thursday, 15 May 2003, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 2 July 2003. It was answered by Keith Hill (Labour) on Wednesday, 2 July 2003 on behalf of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

Office of the Deputy Prime Minister

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many subscribers use the City of London and Metropolitan Police Priority Alert Scheme; what the cost to (a) subscribers and (b) operators is; how many messages were issued in each case of the last five years; and for what purposes.

Answer: Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many subscribers use the City of London and Metropolitan Police Priority Alert Scheme; what the cost to (a) subscribers and (b) operators is; how many messages were issued in each case of the last five years; and for what purposes. [114720] Keith Hill: I have been asked to reply. In the Capital, the City of London and Metropolitan police's Priority Alert scheme now has in excess of 2,000 subscribers from London businesses. Each member pays £15 per month to subscribe a pager to receive information through the scheme. The police themselves incur no direct costs as the operators of the scheme. Over the last five years, the Priority Alert scheme has sent over 1.8 million messages to its subscribers. The primary use of the system is associated with warning those subscribers of suspicious situations, potential terrorist activity and potential or actual demonstrations.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 114720; 408 c327-8W
Session: 2002-03
Subjects: Crime prevention Costs Business Fees and charges Greater London Information Police Pagers
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk